Hidden Talents
by RWBYDragonEye
Summary: Everyone has a hidden talent, the Crew of Hamilton's Habitat are no exception.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: See End**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Dex Hamilton OR Adventure Time.**

Chapter 1: Le Chanteur

It was finally the end of the day, an exhausting one at that. The crew had worked nonstop since the sun came up and they were all glad to finally finish up. Jenny had disappeared into her lab hours ago to work on something for a new mission coming up and hadn't been seen since, though the boys were far too distracted to notice. Dex looked up from his wrist com with a tired grin.

"Alright guys, I think that's it. Good work today," Tung gave a half-hearted cheer from his slouched position on the floor.

" _Finally_ dude," with no other comment he pulled himself up and ambled out the door in a quest to find a snack. Dex shook his head with an amused expression before turning to the pilot.

"Before you head off could you check up on Jenny and let her know? I've still got some things to do,"

"Whatever you say boss," Zap replied with a mock salute before turning (a little too enthusiastically) to walk out the door. Once he was gone Dex yawned and rubbed his eyes, turning to the computer screen as he did.

"One more thing," he smiled to himself as he pulled up Jane's contact and dialled.

.

.

Zap hummed to himself as he made his way towards the lab, always happy for an excuse to see the engineer. This had grown over the past few weeks since the incident with her clone. It had started as a casual check up to concerned glances over his shoulder. Though he told himself he did this because they were _friends_ and _work colleagues_ and that's what friends did.

He was sure she didn't see him _that way_ anyway.

As he arrived at his destination he noticed the door to the lab was slightly open. What surprised him even more was what he heard inside.

 _Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting._

 _Right there where you left it lying upside down._

Confused he peaked through the door and saw Jenny at one of the benches. She was slightly hunched over and was fiddling with something in her hands. There was no music he could hear, and with a start he realised it was _her_.

 _When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded._

 _The underside is lighter when you turn it around._

She spun around in her chair and Zap retreated behind the door, eyes wide in surprise. Her voice was soft and smooth. And beautiful, oh god it was _so_ beautiful. His stomach flipped and he decided that in _this_ moment he fell for her.

 _Everything stays, right where you left it._

 _Everything stays,_ _but it still changes.  
_

He peeked around the door again and found her by the sink with a cloth, cleaning whatever it was she was working on. Beside her Habi Bot swayed in time to the lyrics, his eyes flicked over to the door and winked at the pilot as if to affirm that the voice indeed belonged to the engineer.

 _Ever so slightly. Daily and nightly_

 _In little ways_

 _When everything stays._

Zap leant back against the door and closed his eyes as Jenny repeated the song, he noticed how much emotion escaped in her voice, and combined with the lyrics it felt sad, lonely but very calming. In his mind he decided to find out the name of the song so he could listen to the music later, but for now he was very satisfied with just listening to her voice.

When she went quiet again Zap twirled and stood in the doorway, knocking on the frame and (regretfully) breaking the moment. Jenny let out a small squeak and whirled to face him like a deer in the headlights.

"Ah-Zap Wha-what a-ar-," she stopped and took a breath. "What are you doing here?" he raised his eyebrows at her attempt to cover up what she had been doing and shrugged it off.

"Dex has called the rest of the night off. He told me to tell you,"

"Ah is that right? Well thank you for telling me-" she turned back around and hurriedly picked up the thing she was working on. Zap didn't move, instead he leant on the bench and crossed his arms.

"So that's it? No _'Thank you for telling me Zap. Now I can go to bed'?"_

"Yep that it," she replied quickly. Still noticing his presence she huffed and turned back around.

"You can go now,"

"Awe but I'd rather stay here and keep you company," he whined playfully. She sent him a glare before continuing to clean the little object.

"Fine but don't get in my way," there was a long silence after that, Zap looked around the room trying to think of a way to bring up her singing. The only sounds came from the tools that the clone occasionally picked up or put down. Something tapped his arm and Zap looked down at Habi, who motioned with one of his claws at the girl in front of them. The pilot shifted his position before clearing his throat.

"So-uh, that was some nice singing," Jenny made a noise and dropped the tool she was holding with a _clang._

"A- that, w-well that, um it was-" she stumbled over her words in an effort to find an excuse. "Habi! Yeah he keeps replaying that recording over and over," the little bot flew into the air and shook his head vigorously, rolling his eyes.

"Really? Cause he seems to disagree," Jenny flushed red in embarrassment

"It, yeah it was me," she admitted quietly. Zap felt slightly bad for bringing it up but smiled.

"Your voice is really beautiful. Why don't you sing more often?"

"Because it's embarrassing!" she said, looking anywhere but him. "I don't like people hearing me. I'm judged enough as it is and it was the one thing I could keep it to myself," she looked up at him and glared. "Of course until now,"

"Who says we judge you?" he asked suddenly. Her glare turned to confusion. "I certainly don't, if you think it's because you're the only girl here then you're wrong. You have more guts than the three of us combined. And no one else knows you're a clone so the media can't judge you either. If anything, you're the most normal person here to them,"

She smiled at his speech. "I know, but still. I just don't like people gawking at me, you know?" he nodded.

"More than anyone," he opened his wings for a few seconds and Jenny chuckle. "Still, you should sing more. I would rather hear you than Tung's constant complaining. And I think the others would agree," he stood up fully and walked towards the door.

"Have a good night Jenny,"

"You too," the door closed with a soft click and the engineer was left alone again. Habi landed on her shoulder with a smug look on his face.

"Don't give me that look, I'm sure this was your plan, how else could he have heard me," Habi made a laughing sound and landed on the desk.

"Of course, _you_ left the door open," she flopped into her seat. "Do you realize how embarrassing that is? It's as bad as someone walking on you in the shower!" the bot merely shrugged at her ranting. Resting her chin in one hand she rocked the invention with her finger.

"Still, he said it was nice, even beautiful," a small smile spread across her face and her heart pounded at the thought. "Zap thinks my singing is beautiful," Habi nudged her arm with a sly grin.

"No, I do not think of him _that way_. I just like what he said," Habi's smirk didn't change and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, I liked it _a lot_ , but it was just a compliment. Probably the nicest thing anyone has said to me," she turned her gaze to the gadget in front of her and picked up the tool she had dropped.

Habi turned away from her, satisfied that he had gotten his creator to open up about her hidden talent. He may be a robot but he knew feelings when he saw them, Zap had a crush on her and she had one on him, they just didn't see it. So Habi decided to make it his mission to get them together, after all, what so bad about giving romance a bit of a push.

Thinking about Hidden talents, Habi knew the habitat like the back of his claw, not to mention all of the secrets. Every person in the crew had a little talent the others didn't know about, and Zap finding out Jenny could sing gave the little bot an idea. He rubbed his claws together as a plan formed in his mind.

This was going to be fun.

.

.

 **Done! So in this story each character is going to find out what another's little talent is individually then all at once. So this chapter was Zap finding out about Jenny's talent, I thought it would be sweet if she could sing. I was inspired to write this by the Adventure Time song that Marceline sings called** _ **Everything Stays.**_ **It was so beautiful I couldn't resist. In the next chapter Jenny will discover one of the other's hidden talents (with help from Habi of course).**

 **P.S Habi Bot is totally a Zenny shipper!**

 **Who will be next?**

 **Don't forget to R &R**


	2. Chapter 2

**URGHH It's been forever since I started Hidden Talents, why does school and work have to interfere with my writing?**

 **Anyway I'm glad the first chapter was so well received. If people didn't figure out Le Chanteur means the singer in French, why French? Well I guess at the time I was watching cartoons in French dub (Miraculous Ladybug in the French sub) and a result of saying random phrases in French.**

 **The title gives a clue to what the talent will be and it's a different language each chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: The show is not mine.**

Chapter 2: Il Cuoco

Waking up before six was routine to the clone. Each day she would wake up, have a shower, get dressed, brush her hair and other morning rituals before heading to the kitchen for breakfast. Usually at the ungodly hour Jenny would eat alone, and at times she liked it. It was a way to organise her thoughts and clear her head before whatever chaos was ensured for the day. (Sometimes she sang while readying her breakfast, but quietly and with the door _closed_ )

Today however, was different.

As she neared the kitchen Jenny could smell something cooking, she did not know what was stranger; one of the boys were awake or the fact that one of the boys was awake and _cooking at six in the morning._ Curiosity drove her forward to the source of the mouth-watering smell and she peeked into the kitchen.

There stood the tracker of the group, facing the bench with an apron tied around his waist and a mixer in hand. Completely oblivious to her, Tung whirled the electric mixer around a bowlful of batter without letting a single drop fly off while humming softly to himself. To the side the oven light was on and the timer ticked down the seconds until whatever was in the oven finished cooking. All the while Jenny stood in the doorway opened mouthed.

 _'_ _Ding'_

With an excited cheer Tung turned and pulled on two thick oven mitts before opening the oven, the strong smell of cinnamon flooded the room and Jenny's eyes widened at the sight of the muffins in his hands.

 _'_ _Since when did Tung cook food?'_

Setting the tray on the bench, Tung expertly took the muffins out and set them on a cooling rack before grabbing a jar on the side and sprinkling the contents over the muffins. Picking up the food he turned around and caught sight of Jenny standing in the doorway. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he stood frozen to the spot. Suddenly realising how awkward she had made things Jenny grinned sheepishly and stepped away from the door.

"Uh, good morning Tung," she walked quickly to one of the cupboards and took out a cup to fill with orange juice.

"Oh Good morning Jenny. You're up early," he snapped out of his stupor and set the muffins on the table.

"This is a normal time for me," she raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing up this early? You usually aren't this active until nine,"

"Well dude," Tung grabbed the mixer and unplugged it from the power socket. "Since we got the food shipment last night I and I haven't cooked in a while I thought I might try something different," he grabbed the bowel and covered it in plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge. Jenny's gaze moved to the muffins sitting in front of her. Tung grabbed a small bowl of fruit and placed it beside them and took a seat across from her. She eyed the muffins suspiciously, though they sat harmlessly on the table.

"What did you use to make them?" Tung turned and fumbled with a book on the counter, flipping to the page.

"Uh here, it wasn't just butter!" he exclaimed, pointing to the list of ingredients. Jenny read down the list of ingredients (which indeed contained numerous ingredients and a rather complicated method).

"Cinnamon muffins, well they look very delicious." She put the book down and looked at him questioningly.

"May I?" she stretched her hand out slightly in order to take one.

"Oh, uh yeah." He pushed the plate forward. "Go ahead,"

She picked up one of the warm muffins and took a bite. Immediately she was overcome with the sharp but slight taste of the cinnamon.

"This is amazing!" she exclaimed, after a moment of savouring the taste. Tung perked up excitedly like a dog who was about to receive a treat.

"Really?"

"Mhmm" was Jenny's reply, her mouth full (And one does not talk with a mouth full in her opinion).

"You should cook more often. The other guys would love it,"

"Uh, that's the thing. Whenever I do, no one eats because of how it tastes," Tung's innocent comment turned the food to ash in the engineer's mouth. Guilt stabbed at her as she put what was left of the muffin down and swallowed.

"Oh Tung. We didn't eat those meals because they were nothing but butter and sugar. Eating it like that, raw, is not good for anyone." She put a hand on his arm. "If you had made those dishes with the full set of ingredients they would have tasted marvellous." As an example she held up her muffin.

"Like these. I have never tasted something so delicious in my life. You have a way with cooking, you just need to use the right ingredients,"

Jenny stood with her muffin and took another. Tung's grin returned and he stood up from his chair.

"Your right! I just need to follow the recipes to the letter! You know what I'll do? I'm going to make snacks we can have on the mission next week." His paused before adding: "Without bugs,"

"I can't wait." Jenny turned and walked back out the door. "I'll see you later Tung,"

"Bye Jenny," when the girl had left Tung pulled out another recipe book and began leafing through the pages in the search of the perfect snack. Unbeknownst to him a little bot sat atop the fridge, rubbing his little front legs together, a successful grin plastered on his face.

 **Tada! I've always wondered if** ** _'Hey, what if Tung could actually cook but he never had enough ingredients?'_** **and it fits in nicely. Anyone have an idea on who is next?**

 **R &R**

 **3**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back to Hidden Talents, did you enjoy that last chapter? If you didn't realise Il Cuoco means** _ **The Chef**_ **in Italian, just like La Chanteur means** _ **The Singer**_ **in French. Why Italian? Well I have to do something with what I've learnt in the last three years of school. This next talent will hopefully be in tune with the character.**

 **Disclaimer: I was like eight when this came out, how can I possibly own it?**

Chapter 3: El Guitarrista (Wow this one is obvious)

"Thanks for helping me out with this Tung," Dex called out to the tracker. The two were both currently in one of the storage rooms, rummaging around for more of his Father's records on an insect called the Heaven Beetle, an unknown and unrecorded insect that was believed to live in the outer moons of Main 7.

"No problem dude," the frog boy replied, sticking his head out from behind one of the many (neatly stacked) piles. "I can't believe how much stuff there is in here!"

"I know, it's a wonder Jenny hasn't already cleaned this out," the words sent his mind back to the time they were looking for the Warp Tick Queen and how their ridiculous search ended in one of the many storage rooms the clone chose to ignore.

Yeah the warp tick situation, not his smartest move.

Bringing his mind back to the present Dex opened a cabinet full of old document, flicking through the folders as an idea formed in his mind.

"You know, one day we should really clean these rooms out." He mused aloud. "After all, there could be things in here that could be extremely useful. You never know what you might find-" his speech was cut off by a loud crash accompanied by Tung's surprised yelp. The frog boy groaned and sat up, rubbing his head.

"Ow, man whoever packed this did a pretty bad job," he leant on part of the pile to push himself up and ended up slipping, bringing more of the mound crashing down. Dex winced as the (almost comedic) display played out in front of him.

"Come on Tung, here" he held out his hand to the tracker, who sheepishly accepted it and pulled himself up.

"Sorry dude, I'll help you clean this up," his foot hit an object that gave of an echoed noise, accompanied by the faint _thrum_ of a string instrument. Dex bent and removed it from the pile of magazines and other unidentified junk.

"No way," Dex's face lit up excitedly as he held out the instrument. 'Dad's ukulele!"

"Huh?" Tung furrowed his brows. "It looks like a tiny guitar, your dad used to play it?"

Dex turned the instrument around, a massive grin across his face. "Oh yeah, he used to play it all the time. Guitars and ukuleles were mum's favourite instruments," he had seated himself on a stool and was tuning the ukulele. "I remember her telling me that he learnt it to impress her. They were both really good at playing too," he looked up at the frog boy. "I know it's hard to believe, my dad doesn't seem like the musical type,"

"That thought did actually cross my mind," Tung admitted, Dex shrugged and strummed the strings before tweaking the tuners a bit more. "Can you play it?"

"It's been awhile, but I think I can," Dex held his fingers over the strings, racketing his brain for something to play. Tung sat himself between a crate and an old printer, looking up expectantly. Dex plucked the strings and began playing, rocking back and forth slightly as his hands fell into muscle memory. Tung started clapping along to the beat of the song, bopping up and down as he did. An easy smile fell into place and Dex closed his eyes, seemingly enjoying the moment.

When the final note died away Dex opened his eyes and was met with a starry eyed Tung.

"That was AMAZING!" he cried out, throwing his hands up. "I had no idea you were a ukulele god!" Dex chuckled and rubbed the back of his head at the compliment.

"Thanks Tung, but I wouldn't call myself a ukulele god. The song sounds better with the lyrics, but I'm tone deaf and I'd rather not make your ears bleed," Tung nodded seriously.

"Well we need to get someone who sings to sing while you play. I wanna hear the song in all its words and notes!" Dex laughed at Tung's enthusiasm.

"Well I don't know where we would find a singer, but I have a few home videos I could show you sometime. I'm sure mum is playing the song at one point," Dex stood, ukulele in hand. "But for now we can take a break. I doubt we will find anything in here about the Heaven Beetle." He walked back towards the door with the tracker at his heels.

"Did you want lunch?" Tung asked. Dex shook his head.

"Thanks Tung, but no thanks. I want to put this in a safe place," he held up the ukulele. "Maybe next time," Tung nodded and took off to the kitchen.

"See you later dude!" Dex shook his head and chuckled before looking back down at the instrument.

"Maybe I should practice a bit more," he mused aloud before heading to his room.

Inside the storage room a little robot climbed out from under the fallen pile. That frog boy was such a klutz, the bot hoped that he wasn't scratched, he had only just had maintenance done. He would like his new coat of paint to stay clean for as long as possible thank you very much.

Turning to look at the mess his irritable mood fell away. His plan worked out as expected. After finding that instrument all Habi had to do was wait until Dex decided to search the storage room for whatever he needed. Though he had hoped the pilot would be the one to help having Tung stumble about did give a more interesting reveal. The bot rubbed his claws together thoughtfully.

Three down, one to go. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard.

 **And there you go. Dex can play the ukulele (and any other guitar-like instrument I guess) and Habi has a devious plan like usual.**

 **Apologies for the** _ **extremely unbearably long**_ **time between this chapter and the last. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon, let's hope time will allow. La Guitarrista is Spanish (I think) for guitarist. What was the song Dex played? You'll find out in the final chapter.**

 **What did you think? R &R.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome back to the next chapter of Hidden Talents. First off I would like to thank you for all the wonderful comments, it really makes my day better, especially that wonderful guest who corrected the Spanish title and I have since updated it (Apologies, I have no idea about Spanish** **).**

 **Why Spanish? I guess it's the first language I'd associate with the guitar (even though Dex plays the ukulele in that chapter he can play the guitar)**

 **Don't be afraid to call out any in-corrections in the way I have** **written the titles of the coming chapters as I've only learnt Italian and French.**

 **Ready to find out what Zap's talent is?**

 **Disclaimer: I… do not own the show*le gasp***

Chapter 4: Der Künstler (I think that's how it's written?)

Dex was stumped. Almost half an hour of nonstop searching and he had come up with nothing. The pilot had completely disappeared.

While it was known that Zap disappeared for an hour or two from time to time it was usually done at night, and most of the time he could be reached easily.

But during working hours days away from an important mission? Unheard of.

Dex knew (All too well) that Zap tended to have bad nights, sometimes appearing for work with dark circle under his eyes (Which he would be immediately sent back to his room for rest). But this morning he had been absolutely fine, up bright and early for the day's work.

So where was he?

After checking Zap's usual hideaways; his room, the common room, the kitchen and even the garden area Dex began scouting various sectors of the habitat. He hesitated on using the trackers built into their coms as they were only for an emergency.

Though he sure was tempted now.

He had reached the hanger, quite miffed that Zap had just disappeared and ran a hand through his hair.

"Doesn't he know there's work to do?" he muttered aloud to himself, glaring at the floor before taking a deep breath to compose himself.

"Zap? Are you in here?"

 _Clink!_

Dex whirled around to the sound that had surprisingly answered his question. A small object lay on the floor a few meters from him. Dex looked around himself before heading over to it.

The lead pencil sat harmlessly on the floor, Dex furrowed his brow in confusion and picked it up.

"What the-?" he looked up at the ceiling, squinting his eyes to scan the darkened nook the rafters made. Something moved and to his surprise what came tumbling down next was a small spiral bound book and (with much protest) the pilot himself.

"Ow," Zap groaned, rubbing his head with one hand and propping himself up with the other.

"Zap what are you doing here?"

Zap's eyes widened and his head flicked upwards to meet the confused stare of the leader.

"Ah, hey Dex! Fancy seeing you here," he scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off hurriedly like he _hadn't_ just unceremoniously fallen from the sky.

It was then that Dex noticed the book at his feet, before Zap could stop him he bent down and picked it up off the floor, opening it to a random page.

"Zap what is this?" he asked, staring down at the page. The pilot's eyes landed on the book and immediately doubled in size.

"DON'T LOOK AT THAT!" he shouted, jumping at his own voice before looking back apologetically. "Sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to freak out-" Dex held a hand out to stop the boy's rambling.

"It's okay." Dex glanced down at the page again. "But I didn't know you could draw,"

Zap froze, Dex winced slightly but continued to speak in an effort to calm the boy down. "These are really good Zap, you have some real talent," he handed the book back, which snapped the pilot out of his stupor.

"Uh thanks," he replied awkwardly, taking the book. "But they're not that good," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I sort of do it as a therapy,"

"Oh. I'm sorry for intruding,"

"No don't be, I guess is should have told you. It's actually what I do when I freak out, and disappear."

Zap saw the concern flash across the leader's face and held his hands up again.

"It wasn't that bad this time! I promise I will get back to work," he went to move past but stopped when Dex put a hand on his shoulder and led him over to a crate before sitting down.

"How long have you been drawing?" he asked.

"Uh, what?" Dex patted the spot beside him and smiled.

"Come on, let's talk," Zap hesitated, then took a seat. "So, how long have you been drawing?" Dex asked again.

"Uh, I'm not too sure," the pilot began. "I guess a little before you guys found me."

"Hmm," Dex pondered the information for a moment. "Do you only use lead pencil?"

Zap shot him a strange look before answering. "Mostly, I've used charcoal before but it's easier to erase lead," he looked down at the book in his hands, then back to Dex.

"Uh, would you, like to have a look?" he offered the book to his companion. Dex smiled and let it fall into his hands.

"Of course," he opened the cover and began leafing through the pages carefully. At first there were small things like the kettle, a chair, one of the archive bots. Then there were a series of plants and then some of the insects. Dex marvelled at the detail in a particular sketch of the Arthur Beetle. The images grew more detailed and larger, some containing both insect and pavilion.

What he flipped to next was surprising.

"Is that me?" he asked, pointing to the sketch. Zap's face reddened slightly.

"Uh, yeah. Is it bad?" Dex scanned the image before him; Sketch Dex appeared to be riding on the back of an insect. Though it was only form the waist up the pilot had captured the (rather priceless) thrill seeking expression the leader often wore when landed in one of the many predicaments he often found himself in.

"It's from when we were in Egypt, when your professor friend turned into that big scarab," Zap awkwardly explained. Dex looked up and grinned.

"Can I have this?"

"Wait, really?" Zap did a double take.

"Yeah, it's awesome. You've really captured my personality," he held out the sketchbook. "I'm very impressed you were able to do this from memory,"

"Uh thanks. I'll get it too you later," Zap sheepishly grinned, the compliment warming his face. Dex nodded and continued to flick through. The next few were more sketches of various insects. A surprising shot of Tung in a karate pose raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"How did you get this?" he asked.

"I was sitting in a tree and Tung showed up. I guess I was in a good position where I could see him and he couldn't see me," he shrugged. Dex shook his head and continued flicking. This time it was the engineer as the main focus; Dex noted that extreme detail had gone into this sketch. He took a sideways glance at the pilot.

"This one in particular is really detailed," Zap saw the drawing and went bright red.

"Uh, um well it's from memory, but uh," Dex chuckled as Zap tripped over his words. "She lets me hang out in the lab sometimes so of course I'm gonna notice details like the way her hair falls or the way she bits her lip when-" his expression turned to one of horror and his already blushing face turned beet red. "Uh, I mean-Oh god, um uh" Dex put a reassuring hand on the pilot's shoulder.

"Zap, calm down," he gave him a knowing smile. "Its fine," Zap let out a breath and rubbed his face.

"Sorry," he motioned to keep going. Dex obliged and flipped to the next few pages.

Finally he came upon an unfinished sketch of Habibot. The little bot's expression was detailed and the upper part of his body was shaded, but the rest was still basic shapes containing slight pencil smudges in and around them.

"Oh yeah, that's what I was working on." He glared up at his previous nook in the ceiling. Dex followed his gaze and saw the bot himself sitting on the ledge, giving them both a cheeky wave.

"Uh huh. He pushed you off?" Dex asked. Zap shook his head.

"No, he knocked my pencil off and then my sketchbook," he sent a glare up at the bot, who shrugged and disappeared into the darkness. Dex chuckled and closed the book, handing it back to him.

"Thank you for letting me look at these Zap, it must have been hard to show me. Stuff like this is pretty personal,"

"Uh no worries," he pulled his legs up to his chin. "It was. Sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed, and drawing calms me down I guess. It's hard to describe," he trailed off. "But it was good to get some of this off my chest," Dex smiled softly and wrapped the boy in a hug. When he pulled back he took out the pencil out and handed it to him.

"Finish the drawing and come and find me when you're ready to keep working" he stood and winked.

"See you later Zap," the pilot watched his boss' retreating form before looking back at the pencil in his hand, and smiled.

Habi watched on from above as the pilot re-opened his book and continued to draw, satisfied with his work.

 **Zap can draw! I tried to capture the awkwardness of having someone go through your sketch book (something I am familiar with). This was sort of hard to write because I really wanted to have that brother/fatherly connection Dex and Zap share, hope this isn't too OOC. I've really got to watch a few episodes so I can write the next chapter.**

 **Were you surprised? R &R**


	5. Chapter 5

**Welcome to the last chapter of Hidden Talents! I would like to thank everyone for all the wonderful comments, the fact that this fandom isn't quite dead makes me happy and makes me glad that I have given you all some new stories to read.**

 **If you didn't know the title for the last chapter its German for The Artist/Illustrator. Since I have no experience with German I apologise if it was written wrong or if it's the wrong word (google translate ey!).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Dex Hamilton or Steven Universe.**

Chapter 5 Part 1: The failed mission

Could it be any worse?

The routine mission to Maine 7 was anything but routine. The planet itself (along with its other sister planets) had remained mostly uncharted territory while other planets had been colonised long ago; and for good reason.

This particular planet held giant floating mountains and precarious creatures no one had ever encountered. The environment was extremely unpredictable despite its alluring beauty. Many stories and myths surrounded the planets; none of which boded well for tourists.

Which led to many doubts about the Heaven Beetle itself.

But despite this, the crew made it their mission to retrieve (or at least study) this mysterious beetle.

Everything had been planned out in detail: how to travel the terrain, the weather system. The habits of the native species, even the knowledge of the Heaven Beetle had been studied well enough that the crew had some idea of what to expect.

But there was one thing, one person that they had not accounted for. How could they?

They had been so close, the Heaven Beetle was said to live in the floating mountain ranges. They had left the ship on the lowest level and hiked their way upwards. The crew had made it to a deep chasm that fell away into empty space when they spotted it.

The Heaven Beetle, in all its mysterious glory gazed down at them, a great silver diamond-like stone between its eyes. Dex breathed out a ' _struth_ ' in awe as the four of them stood still, entranced by the insects graceful movements as it fed; one eye always trained on them.

Zap was the first to snap out of the wonder and pulled out the camera to begin recording, nudging the engineer and the tracker in the process. Jenny began scanning the area and recoding down the results while Tung crept forward to find out what the creature was eating.

Dex eventually snapped back into focus and flicked open his wrist com to study the information processed by the scanner.

Then chaos broke out.

A loud screech, one dangerously familiar echoed through the chasm, and the crew had just enough time to turn when the mutant insect barrelled past, smashing into a protective barrier the Heaven Beetle threw up to protect itself.

There was another screech followed by a chorus before four more of the hideous bugs landed around the clearing; acid dripping from their snarling fangs.

"Syrrus' bugs?" Zap yelled out in disbelief. Dex surveyed their situation before setting his eyes on the Heaven Beetle.

"Tung! Zap! Get the beetle out of here! Jenny get that new weapon out. I'll distract them!" he shouted as he sprinted towards the closest bug and fired a sonic wave at it. Jenny dropped her pack and pulled out the weapon, a small thin cylinder that opened out and converted itself into a sniper pistol. Months of non-stop work led to this. It had to work.

In a fluid motion the engineer raised it and took aim on one of the mutant insects, she steadied herself and fired a quiet round into the creature's neck. The tranquiliser did its work and the insect fell calmly to the ground. Noticing the fall of one of their pack the other creatures turned on the engineer who had to quickly fire shot after shot as they advanced.

Dex took care of the few that still surrounded him and ran to help the boys with defending the Heaven Beetle from its attacker, not noticing how the swarm of mutants pushed Jenny back to the edge of the cliff. He did not see the pistol jam as she tried to change the rounds, crying out in frustration. He did not see the Alpha swipe her legs out from under her and snatch the pistol from her grasp.

But he heard her scream.

And he turned just in time to catch her terrified gaze and she fell backwards into the abyss below.

"ZAP!" he shouted, but the bug boy had already shot past him and dove over the edge. Knowing there was nothing he could do he turned his attention back to helping Tung and the beetle. The mutant insect was vastly different from the other pack screeched as it pounded on the defensive barrier. Wicked spines erupted from misshapen limbs and red acid drooled from its fangs.

Sensing the intruders it turned to give Tung a wicked glare from all six eyes, the tracker gasped and jumped high into the air. Dex took the distraction and fired a web of silk rope to tangle around its hooved feet, pulling with all his might. Tung landed on the shell of its back and took a hold of two spines.

If it were any other mission Dex would have joked about him taking his role as bug rider, but his eyes narrowed at the sight of the bug's vicious looking pincers slice through the webbing and roughly shake itself before sharply turning back to its prey, using tis spined tail to knock Dex to the side.

In a daze he saw Tung fly off the mutant bug's back and heard the Heaven Beetle let out an ear splitting screech, the sound loud he was forced to cover his ears. A bright flash of blinding light had him flinch away.

When he looked again the mutant was gone, and so was the Heaven Beetle.

The clearing was deathly quiet.

.

.

.

It had been hours later. Dex had sat in shocked silence ever since. He had not noticed Tung sit next to him and put a consoling hand on his shoulder. He had not noticed Zap land gently behind him with a trembling Jenny in his arms.

The Heaven Beetle and the mutant pack had vanished into thin air. Perhaps the light had been an instinctive move by the Heaven Beetle that eliminated its enemies, it was a mysterious insect after all.

The light could also have been a new trick masterminded by Syrrus, like a teleportation method.

In which case the Heaven Beetle, in all its mystery and wonder was gone.

Though it didn't matter, the beetle was gone and they had failed.

The sun was beginning to set over the mountain range and Zap had flown the safari back up in order to get everyone back down to solid ground. Almost immediately everyone had split into different directions, presumably to take in what happened and collect their thoughts.

Dex headed straight to his room on the ship and sat on the floor. How could everything have turned south so badly? They had thought of everything.

 _Well not everything._ He thought darkly to himself. The events replayed over and over in his mind. Everything that had happened, happened because he wasn't quick enough. He should have helped Jenny with the swarm before helping the alpha, he should have done more than try to lasso the mutant bug. He should have caught Tung before he was thrown off the mutant's back. All his focus was on the Heaven Beetle.

He had put his career before his crew, his family.

He had almost repeated the mistakes his father had before him.

The thought made his breath quicken and tears pricked at his eyes. Taking a deep breath he leant forward and pulled open a cupboard, reaching in to pull out a small box of discs. Pressing a button on the dashboard in front of him he inserted one of the discs into the port and sat back as the video began to play.

.

.

Jenny had recovered from her death defying plummet and was making her way through the halls of the ship. Her fingers fidgeted nervously as she approached her boss' door. What would she say? What would Dex say? It had been hours since the whole disaster, but would he want to have the company? Or would he brush her off and tell her he was fine?

Brushing the doubts from her mind she held her fist up to the door before letting it hover there, hesitant. Inside she could hear muffled voices and what sounded like a guitar of some sort. Habi Bot, who was on her shoulder nudged her cheek gently in a comforting manner.

"Your right," she whispered, smiling slightly before knocking on the steel door. There was a moment of silence before;

"It's open,"

The door slide smoothly open at the touch of a button and Jenny hesitantly stepped into the room. Her gaze flickered to the screen where a home recording was playing. The camera was shaking slightly as the owner moved over to a woman and a child.

"Oh, am I interrupting?"

"Hm? Oh no, come in," Dex patted the spot beside him. "Sit," Jenny obliged and sat beside the leader, arms hugging her knees to her chest. The both sat in silence for a few moments before she took a breath.

"I'm sorry I wasn't any help today," she said quietly. Dex turned to face her in surprise.

"What? You've got nothing to be sorry for!" she turned to meet his eyes.

"The cylinder worked great but it jammed after the first ten shots," she replied. "It took me weeks to perfect it, I thought it would have been enough." She sighed. "I guess it shouldn't be used for rapid firing like that. I panicked and now it's gone,"

"Jenny. That wasn't your fault. If I had stayed to help fend them off you wouldn't have fallen off the edge."

"I guess, but you shouldn't have worried about me. Zap was looking when it happened so I knew it would be fine," she hated stretching the truth but she needed to know if he was okay. "Besides I wasn't the one that saw my teammate fall off a cliff. Are you okay?"

He turned back to the screen. "I will be. I just needed time to get my head around it. The Heaven Beetle was supposed to be our greatest discovery. Proving that a myth exists? Unheard of. We could have learnt so much about it and I blew it. I led Syrrus right too it, and I nearly got you and Tung killed." He let out a sigh and focused on the video playing in front of him.

Jenny bit her lip, no consoling words coming to her mind. Instead she looked at the video before them. The woman with auburn hair and violet eyes was playing an instrument, a ukulele to be exact. A little sandy-haired boy with bright eyes sat beside her as she played. A man's voice could also be heard singing along with the song.

"Is that you?" she asked, pointing to the child. Dex chuckled.

"Very observant, yeah that's me. I think I was about three or four. My dad is recording and that's Mum playing the ukulele." Jenny's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the family. The woman began to laugh as little Dex danced around in time to the music, and Jenny noticed mother and son shared a smile.

"She's very beautiful," she commented.

"Yeah, she was. Always singing and laughing. She loved going on adventures with Dad and I," he cracked a smile at the screen. "She was the one who taught me the ukulele actually,"

"Wait, you can play the ukulele?" Jenny raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I even brought it with me." He leant over and pulled it from its resting place. "I thought I could play it at some point."

"Well, I guess you could play it tonight? I know we all could use some cheer." She stood and walked back out the door. "Don't worry Dex, if Syrrus took the Heaven Beetle we will get it back."

 **Aha part 1! I realised this ending might take more than one chapter so I thought, why not make it a 2 parter? Don't worry the next chapter is posted right after this one so there won't be a huge wait for the end.**

 **R &R**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not Alien Entomologist, Adventure Time or Steven Universe**

 **Chapter 5 Part 2: the Hidden Talents are hidden no more.**

The fire crackled brightly in the darkness, emitting a cherry warmth hat did little to brighten the mood of the trio that circled it. Zap lazily poked at the embers whilst Tung was busy rummaging around in his pack. Jenny looked back at the ship and sighed.

"Do you think he's coming out?" Zap asked. Jenny whipped her head back to the pilot. "I mean, we've had bad missions before, but this one was really important to him,"

"I know," she replied. "But he said he would. I guess he just needs more time," she placed her chin in her hand and watched as the flames danced about.

"If you think about it, no one was really at fault. We all knew the risks were way higher than normal with the Main systems uncharted territory and the Heaven Beetle a myth. It just happened that Syrrus had the same idea as us,"

"Ah found it!" Tung suddenly piped up, removing himself from his pack and holding a container high in the air.

"Found what?" Zap asked. Tung opened the lid and offered the contents to them.

"I made them before we left this morning as a victory treat," Tung shrugged. "Might as well have them now,"

Zap peered suspiciously into the container before opening his mouth to speak, halting when he saw the engineer reach in and pull out one of the cookies that resided there.

"Wha-?" he stared at the girl, who merely shrugged.

"Tung's cooking is pretty good when he uses all of the ingredients," she bit into the cookie and grinned. "Try one!"

"One of what?" the unmistakable accent of their leader called out, the trio turned as Dex took a seat beside the tracker.

"Cookies! I made them this morning," Tung replied cheerfully. Dex looked over at Jenny, who gave him a thumbs up before elbowing the pilot beside her. The boys each took a cookie and were immediately surprised by the flavours.

"What the? Tung! These are amazing!" Zap reached for his second cookie. "I can't believe all this time you've been holding out on us!"

"I agree, these are the best cookies I've had in a long time," Dex expressed thoughtfully. Tung blushed and waved the comments away.

"Ah dudes, it's no problem. Just a hidden talent," the group was silent for a moment before Dex moved behind him.

"I know today hasn't been a good one," he began.

"That's an understatement- OW!" Zap shot a quick glare at the engineer. Dex shook his head at their bickering and pulled the object out from behind his seat.

"And I've been watching some old tapes, and I thought we could use a pick-me-up," the strings of the ukulele glinted in the fire light as he positioned it over his knee. Tung gasped loudly.

"Dude your gonna play it!" his eyes went wide. "That's awesome!" Dex chuckled at the outburst.

"Yeah, I was listening to one of Mum's old songs and thought it would be a good one to play now," he strummed the chords and looked up at the group. "What do you say?"

Zap grinned. "Go for it. I'm interested," Jenny nodded in approval. Dex took a breath and began to play.

"Now I'm a terrible singer, so if you guys recognise the song sing it with me?" as the tune rang out Zap saw Jenny stiffen slightly from the corner of his eye and gave her an encouraging nudge. Dex, unaware of this, repeated the melody a few times before opening his mouth to sing.

 _Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting._

 _Right where you left it, lying upside down._

All eyes were on the engineer, who had her own trained on the fire and her hands clasped tightly in her lap, voice slightly shaky with nerves. Dex's fingers faulted slightly on the ukulele but he kept playing regardless.

 _When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded._

 _The underside is brighter when you turn it around._

Zap's lips twitched into a satisfied grin at the bewildered expression of the tracker; mouth agape and eyes ready to pop out of his head. Jenny kept her gaze dead ahead as she continued to sing louder.

 _Everything stays, right where you left it._

 _Everything stays, but it still changes._

 _Ever so slightly, daily and nightly._

 _In little ways when everything stays._

She tiled her head back slightly and rocked to the side, her hands loosened in her lap.

 _Ever so slightly._

 _Daily and nightly._

 _In little ways,_

 _When everything, stays._

Dex ended the song with a melodic finish, the last notes echoing away into the darkness until only the crackling of the fire could be heard. Jenny's nervous gaze flittered between the boys and her face flushed deep red.

"Don't just sit there," she said defensively. "Say something!"

"That. Was. AMAZING!" Tung leapt off the log in excitement. "Oh My Gosh! I didn't know you could sing like that!" a nervous chuckle bubbled up in the engineer.

"Well I did a good job at hiding it,"

"Jenny that was incredible. You've got some real talent,"

"She sure does," Zap smiled to himself as he lent back, hand brushing the spiral bound book he had been sketching in earlier and a thought drifted through his mind.

"Well, we know that Tung can cook, Jenny is the best singer around and Dex is a genius on the ukulele," he brought the book out and rested it on his knees. "I think I should share something of mine too. After all that wouldn't be fair would it?" He noticed Dex's gaze and the question it held.

 _Are you sure?_

Zap sent him a reassuring smile and held up the book.

"What, you're the next Shakespeare?" Jenny quipped cheekily. "You've certainly been holding out on us,"

"Nah, I don't have the intelligence for that. I've been told I'm more of a Picasso," he joked back as he flipped through to the right page and held it out for the others to see.

The sketch of Habi Bot a few days earlier was complete and even more realistic than his other drawings. There was a stunned silence before;

"There is no way you drew that," Tung said, pointing a finger at the image. "No freaking way," as if to prove him wrong Habi flew up from his seat and hovered next to the page, striking the same pose as his sketch counterpart and batting his eyes at the frog boy; earning a few laughs from the crew.

"Wow, this is amazing Zap," Jenny gently took the book and examined it closely. "I've never seen such attention to detail,"

"Well, I am one to observe," he rubbed the back of his neck and busied himself with putting the books away to hide his blush. Habi flew over to the ukulele and tapped on it eagerly.

"I seems that Habi would like an encore," Dex mused, re-adjusting the instrument. "What do you guys think?"

"Yeah! Of course dude!" Tung exclaimed "And Jenny can sing,"

"Only if I get another one of those cookies Tung," she quipped before turning to Dex. "Do you know Love like you?" Dex strummed the first notes of the melody and she grinned. "Ready when you are,"

Dex counted to four and began to play the cherry melody, Jenny waited until the second round before beginning.

 _If I could begin to be, half what you think of me._

 _I could do about anything, I could even how to love._

Her voice was stronger and more confident this time and her hand tapped in time to the rhythm. Tung rocked in time to the music with a huge smile plastered to his face as his hands tapped on the lid of the box. Zap flipped open his sketchbook to a new page and began to draw the scene in front of him, an infectious smile across his face.

And so the night went on, Dex continued to play the ukulele and Jenny sang whenever she knew the song. Tung went and retrieved more snacks he had made and passed them around. Zap eventually showed his latest drawing to the group which resulted in a sketch challenge where each crew member had to pull a face that Zap then quickly sketched down. (which Tung won of course.)

Eventually the ukulele was put aside and the crew shared stories and talked about anything and everything. Questions were asked about one talent or another and jokes were made. Eventually the troubles of the day had melted away and replaced with laughter and happiness.

Habi watched on as the humans interacted with each other and let out a metaphorical sigh.

For the group that sat around the campfire, it was as if a wall that somehow separated them was gone, their family was closer than ever.

Whatever problem they needed to face they would face it together.

And to think, all that needed to be done was to reveal a few hidden talents.

 **DONE! I'm so glad I got this finished. I wanted to bust out this two parter as quickly as I could since I got inspired to write instead of revising for a circle geometry test.**

 **Shout out to any Adventure Time or Steven Universe fans reading, I just couldn't help myself the songs are so good!**

 **Anyways I really hope you enjoyed this little series, I know I had fun writing it.**

 **Until next time.**

 **RWBYDragonEye out!**


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